Kuba Kingdom

The Kuba Kingdom of the Bakuba (Bushongo) flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries in the forest-savanna heart of Congo, between the Sankuru, Lulua and Kasai rivers. Migrants of the 16th century from the north fused Bushong principalities with Kete, Coofa, Mbeengi and Kasai Twa neighbours into a conglomerate of nineteen peoples under one king, the nyim, who still reigns. Kuba statecraft ran on councils, title societies and a royal art without equal: raffia cut-pile cloths, beaded crowns, ndop portrait statues of each king, and the great Mwaash a Mbooy mask that embodies kingship itself. The kingdom held off Portuguese and later Belgian intrusion longer than its neighbours. The nyim's court at Mushenge still settles custom, and Kuba cloth still clothes prestige across Africa. Nineteen peoples still send delegates to the nyim's council. Kete, Coofa and Mbeengi villages still weave the raffia cloth. Kasai Twa trackers still guide hunters through the forest edge.